Politics

Cowen and Kenny are liabilities, not just to their parties, but to the country, writes Vincent Browne.

The Irish people have no confidence in the present Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, and they have no confidence in the alternative taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

This is at a time when, because of our dysfunctional political culture, leadership matters.

Neither of their respective parties seems in the least bit perturbed that, at this time of crisis, the country is denied a leader in whom they might have confidence.

Drink is more a feature of Irish politics than politics, writes Vincent  Browne.

On Tuesday of  last week, following Brian Cowen’s unremarkable radio interview, Ministers did their usual unremarkable thing pretending there was no issue. But now some of these same ministers are saying quite the opposite: that the interview was disastrous for Brian Cowen, for the party, for the government and for the country. And that Brian Cowen will have to shape up or else.

Brian Cowen is now as beholden to Brian Lenihan as Bertie Ahern once was to Cowen, writes Vincent Browne.

Former NTMA head Michael Somers said he warned that the banks' lending practices "made no sense". But whom in power did he warn and what was their reaction? By Vincent Browne.

Issues of momentous consequence dwarf that of whether Brian Cowen was hung-over yesterday. And even if he was, so what? By Vincent Browne

Brendan McDonagh, the head of Nama, was financial director of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) in 2007. He told an audience in Tralee last Friday morning that he and his then boss, Michael Somers, became worried about Anglo Irish Bank in 2007 because its vast rate of lending raised doubts about the solvency of the bank.

The Real IRA has declared UK banks and bankers as legitimate targets in its campaign of terrorism to achieve a united Ireland. In written answers to questions by the Guardian newspaper, the Real IRA branded bankers as "criminals [who]... serve in financing Britain's colonial and capital system".

A narrow definition of collusion leads McLean to reject alleged involvement of prison officers in Wright murder. By Malachy Browne

The McLean inquiry into the murder of loyalist paramilitary Billy Wright has found "no evidence of collusion by state agencies or of any deliberate wrongdoing". Lord McLean said in a statement today that any failings of prison officers leading up to the murder "were the result of negligence rather than of deliberate acts". The Inquiry also found "nothing sinister" in the destruction of files on Maze prisoners.

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Billy Wright was murdered in the Maze prison two days after Christmas Day 1997. The notorious paramilitary was shot while sitting in a van awaiting transport to the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) visiting area in the Maze. The 37 year old was accompanied in the van by two prison guards when it was ambushed by three INLA prisoners, two of them armed. The assassins climbed through a hole in an "undetected and unobserved section of security fencing" between the prisoners' yard and a low roof. They crossed the roof onto the forecourt where the van stood.

The vast majority of Irish people believe the Irish government should spend more than it currently does on overseas development aid (ODA). A new survey shows high support for meeting Ireland's ODA commitment of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI), even among marginalised groups. Ireland currently contributes 0.54% of GNI in ODA. By Malachy Browne.

The findings were published today by Dochas, the umbrella group for Irish non-governmental development organisations. The survey, conducted by MRBI Ipsos, sampled 1,000 Irish people over 15 years of age. 

The scariest thing in Ireland at present is the sound of Eamon Ryan waffling on RTE’s Morning Ireland, avoiding every question asked of him, with that trademark condescending verbal smirk, pretending he and his Green colleagues have even a smidgin of understanding of what is going on.